Danielle Gobuty Eskow and Marisa Gobuty the daughters of former Winnipeger Marshall Gobuty who is now living between Tel Aviv and the Bahamas, have created a website to revolutionize bar/bat mitzvah tutoring, www.MyBarMitzvahTutors.com. With the goal of connecting to as many Jewish families as possible the sisters created a format to enrich the lives of Jewish families that are overbooked and overscheduled, far from a synagogue, or simply prefer the convenient format of online tutoring. Mybarmitzvahtutors.com provides interactive and convenient learning from your own home. They hope to provide families with the opportunity to experience the importance and meaning of a Bar/Bat Mitzvah in a convenient and memorable way.   

Danielle Gobuty Eskow, 24, who has been preparing Bar and Bat Mitzvah students for years  says  the idea for the website grew out of her experience “I  began tutoring a student in Washington state who does not live near a synagogue. The student wanted to become a Bar Mitzvah and we began learning and preparing together and MyBarMitzvahTutors.com grew out of this experience.  Now students everywhere can have access to high quality, convenient, and meaningful preparation regardless of where they live..”   

As Marisa Gobuty, 22, who is the Chief Hebrew Instructor, adds, “The beauty of this type of preparation service is that it does not matter where the student lives, or where the tutor lives. We can be across the country or in the same city, it is all done virtually so there is no hassle.”    

The website was launched in December 2010, and the two women are pleased with its success.  The MyBarMitzvahTutors program extends far beyond the tutoring sessions.  In addition to the Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation, the tutors provide additional help on speeches, weekly D'var Torah podcasts posted on the website, and Shabbat and holiday prayer tutorials. The site provides the means for every family to become involved in the process of becoming a Bar/Bat Mitzvah.   

“As of now we have students all over the country: California, Nebraska, Washington, and on the East Coast as well. So far all of the students have shown incredible progress. We have several students who could not read Hebrew or identify a Hebrew letter when they began. After working with Marisa, the Chief Hebrew Instructor, the students are now reading Hebrew words with great ease and are enjoying it!" says Danielle.   

Danielle notes that their website is unique:   “There are other websites which offer tutoring services, for example a rabbi who will come and Bar/Bat Mitzvah a student, people who use skype to tutor, etc. However, there is no program or website like ours today. Our website offers much more than just Skype tutoring. We offer a personal one-on-one relationship between tutor and student. We are not about signing on for an hour and signing off. For the two half hour sessions per week the student is the tutor's number one priority. to maximize concentration and reach full learning and understanding potential." 

Danielle continues, "Our goal is to ensure that the student feels cared for by MyBarMitzvahTutors.com and that the experience extends far beyond the tutoring session. Our program includes the family in the learning process as well. We are in constant contact with both the student and the family through bi-weekly progress reports and "follow ups" of the session, as well as the assignment for the next session. We are a "one-stop shop" for Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation. The relationship is not lost behind the computer screen, each student will feel personally cared for and each of us ensures that the student WILL be ready and excited for their special day.”    

Another unique feature of MyBarMitzvahTutors.com is that each student receives a personalized fully-loaded netbook in the mail to use for the duration of the preparation program. Each netbook is loaded with licensed software from Israel to aid in Hebrew reading and a unique interactive Torah trope program. As Marisa explains, “ The student's netbook is personalized for him/her with the interactive Hebrew learning and Bar Mitzvah Preparation program on the computer. The student's Torah portion and Haftarah are loaded in pdf form, as well as the necessary mp3 files and prayers that the student may need. Each netbook is carefully loaded and personalized for each student. This way, the student can carry the lightweight netbook anywhere they go to study at the click of a button. The Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation experience is at their fingertips...anytime, anywhere”.   

The women also would like to enter into a partnership with synagogues and envision MyBarMitzvahTutors.com as a resource for synagogue communities:   “We have many synagogues and rabbis who have expressed interest in incorporating this type of outsource tutoring for their Bar/Bat Mitzvah programs. Our program is a great marketing tool for synagogues to attract new members and unaffiliated people into their community. We are currently working with students who are members of synagogues and use us to help guide them through the process. Our goal is to enhance Bar and Bat Mitzvah tutoring both within the synagogue community and outside of the synagogue. There are many unaffiliated Jewish people, for whatever reason, who do not belong to a synagogue. By partnering with synagogues we can bring these people in the door and offer them a service and an experience that they might not otherwise have had,” says Danielle.   

Anyone interested in learning more about  Danielle and Marisa’s new venture , or interested in retaining their services may visit  www.mybarmitzvahtutors.com or email [email protected]